Do the right thing

The last week had been brutal. It totally challenged the strength of my moral values and principles, besides awakening me to the fact that people are inherently selfish and will always look after their own hide when push comes to shove.

A trusted person betrayed that trust and in doing so, caused political dissent and mistrust amongst his circle. I for one, was not surprised as previously I had seen through two traitorous persons. What took me by surprise was his admittance that he was aware of the wrongdoing, but proceeded to continue, implying that it was a conscious malicious intent on his part.

It was truly a week of awakenings when I realized that the general population chooses to do nothing when such a crime is committed; citing that damage was minimal as the reason for not reporting it to the authorities. I was aghast when I tried to do otherwise, that I was accused of blowing things out of proportion and being too petty. What happened was a crime that violated a Parliament Act that was ruled in 2010 and yet people's perception were, as long that it didn't happen to me, let's just let things go. It is too much of a hassle, some said. Do you have enough evidence, another asked. All these doubts do not change the crux of the matter, that a crime was committed and the Law was not notified. To save face? To not destroy a career? To show leniency? Are you a qualified Judge to determine that? Would the outcome be different if his citizenship were different? Lesser crimes have been reported compared to the severity of this case.

To all who were against the idea of reporting, I posit this to you. Would you say and act the same if it affected your family member? Your mother or father perhaps? What if money was lost? Would you report the crime if somebody attempted to break into your house but was unsuccessful? Isn't that the same thing? It is always easier to wash your hands off rather than get dirty.

I choose to live with my conscience so that I can sleep at night, knowing that I did the right thing. Whether it makes a difference or not, at least I did something about it.